Mirror Mirror
Mirror Mirror is a fourth season episode of House which first aired on October 30, 2007. A man without identification is found collapsed on the street after a 911 call. At first, he presents with a number of symptoms that make the team think he’s faking until one life-threatening symptom which can’t possibly be faked suddenly jumps out of the pack. House realizes that damage to the patient’s frontal lobe has made him incapable of asserting his own personality or identity, and the patient is mirroring the personality of the most dominant person in the room. The team searches for clues to the patient’s identity to try to improve his medical history, which appears to be the key to diagnosing his illness. In the meantime, they each gain insights into their own personality, but only one of the fellows takes the insights to heart enough to change their entire attitude about working with House. In the middle of this, Chase starts making book about which fellowship applicant will be the next to get the axe. Mr. X serves as a vehicle for developing the characters of The Applicants without a lot of exposition. However, more than one commentator noted that these insights might as well apply to House as well. It may explain what attracts House to the remaining applicants. Amber is seen as needing to prove herself entirely through her intelligence because her personality drives people away. Taub is seen as being attracted to strong women (just like House with Cuddy and Stacy Warner). Kutner is seen as an iconoclast who pursues his own interests despite the disinterest of others and is driven by the need to be different. Brennan is seen as a person bored with the routine of hospital life who wants to be in an environment that piques his interests and intellect. Foreman is seen as a person who is ostensibly miserable, but must admit he enjoys the craziness of extreme medicine. Finally, there is Thirteen, who appears to be frightened all the time which, perhaps, explains House's defensiveness and may be a foreshadowing of her fear of contracting a genetic illness. Recap Two young men plan a mugging, but when they approach their intended victim, he insults them. They then threaten him and the victim starts coughing and collapses on the street. They steal his wallet. One of the criminals calls 911 for an ambulance before they flee the scene. House meets with the applicants, who suggest diagnoses for the mugging victim. Cuddy and Foreman come in—Foreman has been re-hired. Cuddy tells House he's there to be her eyes and ears. House orders a methacholine challenge to see why the patient is having difficulty breathing. Foreman apologizes for Cuddy humiliating House, but House knows why she did it. House says he's going to make Foreman quit again by making him miserable, but Foreman says he won't quit because he’s already miserable. The applicants put the patient on a treadmill, but he starts having tingling in his foot and pain in his stomach, and can't complete the test. The applicants find out Chase is running a betting pool on them. Amber is the early favorite to be fired. She and Kutner start betting heavily on each other. Foreman is leading a differential with the applicants when House arrives. House reminds Foreman he quit because he didn't want to become like House. He asks Foreman why he came back. House is paged and announces to the room that the patient has crashed. After the applicants leave, Foreman admits no one will hire him because they think he was corrupted by House. Foreman wants to quit, but he can't find a job. The applicants discuss how to treat the patient. House tells Foreman that since he's miserable already, he will make Cuddy miserable instead. Foreman thinks it is Munchausen syndrome—the patient's name is identical to the EMT who brought him in, and the patient’s symptoms match those of the patients in neighboring rooms. House thinks it is Giovannini Mirror Syndrome, a disease where the brain picks up clues from the surroundings because the patient has brain damage and has no sense of self. To settle the argument between them, House proposes a test. House brings the patient into an operating room. The patient can't answer questions about himself. Wilson tells House to stop making power plays. He thinks House is threatened by Foreman and afraid of Cuddy. The patient starts acting like Wilson, confirming House's suspicions. They then find out that the patient's blood has started to congeal. He needs to be heated to keep his blood flowing. House points out to Foreman that the patient can't possibly be faking the symptom. While walking to the hospital cafeteria, House lectures the applicants about Giovaninni Mirror Syndrome. He asks for reasons why the patient's blood congealed with the cold. The only answer appears to be an infection, but several infections can have that symptom. The applicants talk about how to do tests. House announces to everyone in the cafeteria that they have food poisoning and tells them to go to the clinic. Foreman tells them that House is lying, but House tells them that Foreman only has a mail-order medical degree. The people in the cafeteria head out, and House sends his applicants off to do their infection tests. He sends Cole to find the patient's car, but Thirteen volunteers to go with him. House comments sarcastically that they have a love connection, and leaves. Amber finds a way to draw blood from the patient. The patient begins acting like her. He says that if nobody likes you, you always have to be right, otherwise you’re worth nothing. Taub does an ultrasound, and the patient starts acting like he wants to have sex with Amber. Taub says that he's married, and that Amber is a little too aggressive, but the patient says he’s married too and that aggressive is never a bad thing. Taub find a lesion on the liver. House and Wilson discuss the lesion. Wilson makes fun of House because the patient was mirroring him instead of House—mirror syndrome patients mirror who they think is in charge. House tries to counter the comment by saying that since Wilson was the surgeon, he was in charge, but Wilson teases him by saying that House would pick up his laundry if Wilson asked him. House tells him to ask, but Wilson says he‘s not that cruel. They enter the lecture hall, but none of the applicants are there. The word "Clinic" is written backwards on the whiteboard as a clue. House goes to the clinic to get his applicants, but Cuddy keeps them there to deal with House's lie about food poisoning. House polls his applicants for ideas. He finally orders a liver biopsy. He gets back at Cuddy by ordering expensive tests for the uninsured patients. Brennan is doing tests when the patient starts acting like he doesn't want to be working in a hospital. He finds that the patient may have pus from a fungus. He orders treatment for it, which Amber administers. House asks Brennan why he let her perform the treatment. Brennan did it because he thinks House will eventually let him go. House reminds him that he has to stick around even though he really wants to work in the third world. House tells him that he's a good doctor and should stay. Brennan instead says he will leave in an hour when the patient is better. Amber and Kutner find the patient's blood has started congealing again. The hot blankets are not sufficient, so they put him in a whirlpool bath. It turns out the fungus diagnosis was incorrect—the pus was really coagulated blood. They talk about diagnoses. Antibiotics aren‘t working, so Foreman figures it has to be viral or an exotic bacteria. House wants to do a medical history despite the patient not remembering who he is. House calls Thirteen and Cole, who have found the patient's car. House asks them what's taking so long, Thirteen says that the car is locked in an impound lot guarded by dogs and they can't get the key. House responds that why he sent two of them - one breaks in, the other posts bail. When Thirteen says that getting arrested isn't what she's worried about, House says, "Not a problem. You know how to kill dogs, right?" and hangs up. He then orders the team to test the patient for antibodies because learning what diseases he has might point to where he‘s been. The applicants file out to run the tests, but Foreman says he hasn't signed off on it. The applicants ignore him. Taub apologizes to Foreman for the way they are treating him, and tells him he figures either Foreman or Cuddy will give in before House does. Foreman asks Cameron about the pool. The odds on Foreman are even, but Cameron has bet in his favor. She reminds Foreman that he loves his job and, even though the job is crazy, he should keep doing it. Foreman tells her she’s wrong, but she tells him he belongs with House. Kutner does a lumbar puncture for the antibody test. When he tells the patient that drawing the cerebro-spinal fluid might hurt, the patient tells him to bring the pain. Kutner says he isn't a masochist, he merely likes new experiences. The patient says that he doesn't just like new, he has to have new—if he acts like everyone else, then he's not an individual anymore. Then the patient comments that he likes hot tubs. Wilson finds Cuddy trying to prank House by replacing his Vicodin with laxatives. Wilson tells her to make House think he has beaten her. He finds out Cuddy has already pranked House somewhere else. The team talks about where patient might be from based on his antibody tests, but Foreman belittles the clues. They are still having problems keeping the patient warm enough, so House orders a procedure that could give him a severe fever. He goes to Cuddy for approval when Foreman objects. She pretends to object and then give in, but House realizes it's a trick and says he still doesn't want Foreman. He also says he can tell the difference between Vicodin and other pills and threatens to replace her contraceptive pills. He says he wants Foreman gone. Foreman starts to induce the fever, and, like Foreman, the patient expresses both doubt and excitement—he says that although Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital doesn‘t work the way it‘s supposed to work, he's happy. Suddenly, the patient collapses and goes into cardiac arrest. They have to get him out of the water and dry him off before they can revive him. Once again, Kutner is quick with the defibrillators. He resuscitates the patient, but in the process shocks himself into unconsciousness. Kutner recovers, and House compliments him on saving the patient, and then calls him insane. Foreman starts discussing whether to biopsy the patient's heart and when he makes a Houseism about it, House agrees to the procedure. House tells Foreman he has found him a job in Boston, but Foreman turns it down and starts smiling. House is upset and tells him to do the biopsy himself. Thirteen and Cole find out who the patient is, but there is no useful information apart from the patient's name. House is annoyed that they spent so long finding the car when they barely found anything useful, and asks Thirteen why she went with Cole. He thinks that Thirteen didn't want to have the patient mirror her, and decides to make her do the heart biopsy instead. House tells Foreman that he and Thirteen will do the biopsy and Foreman leaves. House makes Thirteen do the biopsy. The patient starts acting like House, making sexual comments about how hot Thirteen is, but House tries to pretend that she's his boss. After the patient says, "This is so frustrating" Thirteen says that she doesn't think he's mirroring her, and House realizes that he has to leave, since the patient won't mirror Thirteen while he's there. After House leaves and Thirteen completes the biopsy, the patient starts acting like he is very scared. Thirteen tries to reassure him by saying, "It's OK. It's going to be OK," and the patient responds with, "No. No, it's not." House tries to get Kutner to go in to see what the patient says about Thirteen. He threatens to fire Kutner if he doesn't, but before Kutner can, Thirteen walks out. House asks her how the patient is, and Thirteen says that his fever's at 106. House cuts her off and asks how the patient was when he mirrored her. She says sarcastically that, " 'He's delightful—loves the smell of freshly baked rhubarb pie and isn't afraid to love." Then she follows it with, "Also, his rash is coming back.'" Kutner says that the patient needs the meds and the hot tub to keep him stable. House agrees, and Kutner makes a comment about how the patient will be happy—he loves hot tubs. House thinks that Kutner likes hot tubs and the patient was mirroring him, but Kutner mutters that he hates hot tubs. Once they've established that no one else was there, House is angry that Kutner didn't mention this, but Kutner says that he didn't think it was relevant. House says that they need to "splash him some more", meaning they need to jog his memory. House visits the patient dressed in the patient's clothes with the patient's belongings. He's pretending to be the patient. The patient starts acting like himself and starts remembering things. The patient is on the road a lot. The patient uses mentholated petroleum jelly by spreading it on his nostrils to distract from the smell of dung when he is in his car. House tells the applicants that the patient is a farm equipment salesman and merely needs narrow-spectrum antibiotics to cure him of an uncommon infection that can be caught from pig dung: eperythrozoon. They go to give the patient the treatment, but Foreman has an idea. He puts House and Cuddy in the room with the patient to see who is dominant. Foreman tells Wilson that if House dominates, he will take the job in Boston. Wilson replies that there is no job—House lied. The patient starts acting like House, making a comment about Cuddy's breasts. House delights that Foreman was shot down. House tells the applicants they all suck, they all made mistakes. However, House decides not to fire anyone. Foreman asks why he didn't fire anyone or even let Brennan quit. House says they are all good doctors. Foreman realizes that because none of them got fired, they all lost their bets with Chase. He guesses that House worked with Chase to fix the bets against all of them. House tells him he gets 50% of the take. House notes something else—all of the applicants and Foreman got insights into their personality from the patient, but Foreman is the only one who took advantage of that insight. Eliminations No One! Cuddy and Cameron lose the bet, Foreman also loses the bet, Wilson loses the bet, and Chase wins and splits the money with House. Category:Episodes Category:Season 4 Category:Zebra Factor 8 Category:Featured articles Major Events *Foreman returns to the hospital to help House with the remaining applicants. He tells House that while he'd like to quit working at PPTH, he can't because the medical world thinks that House has corrupted him so as a result, no one is willing to hire him. However by the end of the episode, Foreman changes his mind and decides to stay on permanently. *Chase starts a betting pool to see which of the applicants will be the next one to get fired. *Kutner uses the defibrillation paddles recklessly again and ends up knocking himself out as a result. *None of the applicants get fired or quit and Chase wins the entire pool. House gets for fifty percent of the winnings because he fixed the contest. *The patient Mirrors all the doctors except for Cole. *It's implied that Wilson is more dominant than House. *In the end, it's implied that House is more dominant than Cuddy as the patient mirrored House instead of Cuddy. Zebra Factor 8/10 Although eperythrozoon is common in the environment and is common in animals like pigs, it is rarer in humans. Most infections in humans are mild and show no symptoms. Trivia & Cultural References * The title is a reference to the misquote from the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as the question the evil Queen asked the Mirror: “Mirror Mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” (In reality, the quote is "Magic mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all). *A "cat burglar" is a thief who relies on stealth rather than force to enter people's homes to steal. * Bling-bling, or usually just "bling" is ostentatious jewelry favored in hip-hop culture. It is often used as a synonym for "money". * An "alpha dog" is the leader of a pack of dogs. It is often used as a metaphor for hierarchical organizations. * Although traditionally made Mayonnaise can harbor salmonella and other food borne toxins, commercially prepared Mayonnaise actually extends the shelf life of food because of its high acid content. Food poisoning from commercially prepared mayonnaise is very rare. *The Osmonds were a singing group made up of the brothers and one sister of a very large Mormon family. They were popular from the 1960s to the 1980s and during their prime were one of the best selling recording artists and concert acts of their day. * The reference to Cole proposing to five nurses is a reference to Mormonism and polygamy *The age of consent in Sweden is fifteen. It’s suicide rate in 2012 was fairly high at 12.0 per 100,000, but equal to that of the United States. *The reference to Michael Moore being right is about Moore’s documentary Sicko about the lack of universal health coverage in the United States. *Tonya Harding is an infamous female figure skater who was found to have arranged an injury to her primary rival, Nancy Kerrigan, just prior to the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. * House's reference to Thirteen knowing how to kill dogs refers to the events in 97 Seconds * El Salvador, Belize and Honduras are countries in Central America. *Weehawken is a small town in New Jersey right across the Hudson River from Manhattan. *When being told about the risks of biopsying the patient's heart Foreman sarcastically responded they should biopsy his toe instead. House did something similar in Fools for Love by saying they should biopsy the patient's shoes instead of her heart due to the stroke risk, proving the point that Foreman acts like House. *When Kutner and Amber are with the mirror patient as his blood starts congealing again, Kutner assumes he's mimicking whichever one of them happens to be dying; ironically, Amber dies at the end of the fourth season and Kutner dies later near the end of the fifth season. * Mount Zion Hospital in Boston is fictitious. * Hamilton, Ohio is a city of about 62,000 people in the southwestern part of the state. *During the betting scenes, you can see the name of the fellowship candidates on some of the betting slips. One of them has the name "Remy Hadley." *Through the Looking-Glass is a classic children's book and the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Music *"We're Going To Be Friends" by The White Stripes (at the end of the episode) Continuity Errors *House treats Foreman like an idiot after he tries to confirm that House is talking about "Giovannini Mirror Syndrome" and House counters by asking what other kinds of "Mirror Syndrome" there are. Of course, the previous year, they treated a case of Maternal mirror syndrome. **However, as maternal mirror syndrome affects only pregnant women, House likely completely ignored that. *When the applicants get up to go when their patient crashes, Cole leaves his folder open on his desk. However, in the next shot, it's closed. *When Mr. X is taken out of the hot tub, he has no shorts on, but by the time he gets to the bed, he has shorts on and they're dry. *Wilson and House approach a double door as they talk about Mirror Syndrome. However, when the shot switches to the other side as they enter that room, there is only one door. *Cuddy is mentioned as taking birth control pills even though she was trying to get pregnant in the previous season. * How did Cole and Thirteen find Mr. X's car? They had no information about the patient, including name, to give to police if they tried to track down the car that way. All they had to identify the car were the keys, so presumably they were testing the keys on cars in the area where the patient was found. If so, it is quite a stretch that they would be able to trace the car to the correct impound lot. Goofs * On the big whiteboard showing patients' status, nausea is misspelled "nauseau" for the listing for room 404 and for room 407 the symptom is "difficult breathing" instead of "difficulty breathing" or, more properly, respiratory distress. *When Foreman points out that their patient, who is going by the name "Martin Harris," is copying symptoms from the neighboring patients on the whiteboard, the initials "MH," which would identify the patient on the whiteboard, are nowhere to be seen. *House and Mr. X wander around an operating room without masks. In real life, anyone without a mask on would immediately be either screamed at to put one on or would be physically removed from the room. This error occurs numerous times throughout the series. *The idea to use a methacholine challenge to confirm a laryngospasm has one big problem—it's very likely to induce asthma if the patient does have asthma. *Eperythrozoon does infect humans in rare cases, but it doesn't cause symptoms as severe as Mr. X had. *Although infection can cause cold agglutination (and did so here), cold agglutination can also be caused by autoimmune diseases and cancer. *Cold agglutination does not happen at a higher temperature as disease progresses as it did here. *Giving a patient a bacterial endotoxin will give them a fever, but will also have other undesirable side effects which would rule it out as a treatment for cold agglutination. *Security dogs are trained not to take food from anyone except their handlers. They would most likely not be tempted by drugged hamburger meat. Medical Ethics Once again, House experiments on a patient. In this case, he deliberately infects the patient in order to give him a high fever. Apart from the general admonition in medicine to "do no harm", there is an issue with consent to treatment. Mr. X is obviously in no condition to provide informed consent. He also has no medical proxy. In such cases (like an unconscious homeless patient, for example), the general rule is that the patient can be deemed to consent to any treatment a reasonable person would agree to. Where there is a dispute about treatment, the general procedure is to appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the patient's interests. However, this is an extraordinary remedy and, as was seen in Love Hurts, a court is unlikely to appoint a guardian if there is a possibility the patient has a next of kin who would automatically be assumed to be the medical proxy (such as a spouse). In an emergency, another physician could be made the guardian ad litem, but in any case, Cuddy should have refused House's suggestion about the infection. As seen, any disciplinary consequences would have fallen on Cuddy and House, but not the fellows. Mirror syndrome Giovannini mirror syndrome is a fictitious disease that serves as a plot device to develop the characters. Nevertheless, it is based on a real but very rare disorder environmental dependency syndrome. EDS patients take their cues on how to behave entirely from their environment. It is, like frontal lobe disorder, a disease of the frontal lobe. Once thought to be primarily the area where inhibition and foresight reside, modern medicine now sees the frontal lobe as where one's sense of "self" resides. People with fully functioning frontal lobes can draw on their own experiences and knowledge not only to know how to behave, but to know how they want to behave in a particular situation. However, EDS patients have no real insight into people's personalities, such as what was demonstrated by Mr. X. They merely mimic observable things about those around them, and when others announce things about themselves, incorporate that into their personality of the moment. For example, if you tell an EDS patient you're a doctor, the patient will also respond that they are a doctor, similar to what happened when House went into the patient's room acting like the patient. Just as an aside, alcohol, far from revealing a person's "true personality" actually masks a person's normal behavior and gets them to act in a manner consistent with the way others in the room want them to act. Reviews Frank Whaley's performance as Mr. X was universally praised due to his ability to act like the other characters on the show on command. However, Polite Dissent thought it was an average episode with the mind reading capability of Mr. X being too big a stretch. Conversely, Blogcritics appreciated that this plot device allowed nearly instant character development for the applicants without the need of a great deal of exposition. *IMDB users rated the episode a 9.0 with 44.8% of users rating it a 10 *TV.com users rated the episode an 8.8 Quotes Dr. Lisa Cuddy: I can fire him. I can fire him now. I can fire him tomorrow! I don't even need a reason!'' ''Dr. Gregory House: She doesn't fire me! She will never fire me! She needs me!'' ''Dr. Lisa Cuddy: He's a good doctor. That's all I respect, his expertise and I...'' ''Dr. Gregory House: She's hot for me. Always...'' ''Mr. X: SHUT UP!'' ''Dr. Lisa Cuddy: Well that could have been either of us.'' ''Mr. X: You have great ya-boos.'' ''Dr. Lisa Cuddy: Still could have been either of us.'' ''Dr. Gregory House: You lose.'' ''Dr. Cuddy: Seriously! I have always thought my breasts were one of my best features.'' ''Dr. Gregory House: War's not over until Foreman's gone!'' ''Dr. Lisa Cuddy: Foreman's NOT going anywhere!'' ''Dr. Gregory House: ...And I know when my Vicodin's not Vicodin. Do you know when your birth control pills aren't birth control pills?'' ''Dr. Gregory House: So now you've electrocuted yourself and set a patient on fire. I like the dedication.'' ''Kutner: Thank you.'' ''Taub: It wasn't a compliment.'' ''Dr. Gregory House: Yeah, it was. The insult comes now: YOU'RE INSANE! You either have an aversion to towels, or you want pain. I think both. I'm thinking it goes back to high school Gym.'' ''Dr. Gregory House: in the clinic after Cuddy has upset him ''Who here doesn't have health insurance? None? None at all? Michael Moore was right. MRIs, PET scans, neuro-psych tests, and private rooms for all these patients. Fight the power! ''Dr. Gregory House: Have you guys ever heard any of my metaphors yet? Well come on, sit on grandpa's lap while I tell you how infections are the criminals, the immune system's the police... Seriously, Grumpy, get up here. It'll make us both happy.'' ''Dr. Gregory House: Someone's gonna be miserable sometime. Accept it. That's how I stay so happy.'' ''Dr. Eric Foreman: Chase won every bet. So, you're either being nice, or you were in on it. What was your cut?'' ''Dr. Gregory House: 50%, and if you want to keep your new job...'' ''Dr. Eric Foreman: I'll keep quiet.'' ''House: Hey! You actually do want to stay, don't you?'' ''Dr. Foreman: I think I do.'' ''House: Every one of those idiots got some insight about themselves from the pig salesman, not one of them did anything about it. People don't learn '—'' they don't change ''—'' you did. You're a freak! Dr. Lisa Cuddy: '''Your team, including Foreman, is dealing with the Great Mayonnaise Panic of 2007. I'm worried it might spread to other condiments. ''Dr. Allison Cameron: You've been humiliated '—'' treated like crap. You have every right to be miserable, but you're not. Because even though this job is insane and House is insane, you like it. You always have. Dr. Eric Foreman: '''You know what's worse than a sanctimonious speech? A sanctimonious speech that's dead wrong! ''Dr. Allison Cameron: See? You belong with House.'' ''Taub: So... which of us sucks the most?'' ''Dr. Gregory House: It's a tie.'' ''Dr. Amber Volakis: Between?'' ''Dr. Gregory House: All of you.'' ''Dr. Amber Volakis: We're all fired?'' ''Dr. Gregory House: None of you are fired.'' ''Amber: What's going on?'' ''Kutner: You're the favorite.'' ''Amber: House's?'' ''Kutner: To get fired.'' ''Brennan: You want us to stop his breathing?'' ''House: Well, only until you can figure out why. After that it would be irresponsible.'' ''Dr. Foreman: The mayo is fine, you can stay where you are. I'm a doctor.'' ''House: interjecting Mail order! I've seen the diploma: two Ns in "university".'' ''Kutner: The cultures were my idea.'' ''House: No one's keeping score. You're losing.'' ''House: Why are you doing a pelvic for food poisoning?'' ''Kutner: She said her hoo hoo burned.'' ''Thirteen: Getting arrested is not what I'm worried about.'' ''House: Not a problem. You know how to kill dogs, right?'' ''Dr. Wilson: You're putting KY jelly on his phone receiver? An exploding snake in his drawer?'' ''Dr. Cuddy: No, I'm replacing his Vicodin stash with laxatives.'' ''Dr. Wilson: So what if it's House?'' ''Dr. Foreman: Then I take the job at Mount Zion.'' ''Dr. Wilson: There is no job at Mount Zion.'' ''Dr. Foreman: House said…'' ''Dr. Wilson: Well, if House said it, it must be true.'' ''House: the patient Keep him in the isolation room so he doesn't pick up "Extreme Bitch Syndrome" from one of the nurses.'' ''House: Foreman You can leave.'' ''Cuddy: I just hired him.'' ''House: Well, I fired him. To infinity.'' ''Foreman: You didn't tell him I was coming back?'' ''House: She did. I said no.'' ''Cuddy: When your extended job interview-slash-reality TV show killed a patient, you lost your veto power. the applicants It's still Dr. House's department. He decides who stays, who goes.'' ''House: Foreman goes—'' ''Cuddy: But Dr. Foreman will be my eyes and ears. You do nothing without his knowledge.'' ''House: Oh, uh, just in case I need them, where exactly will Dr. Foreman be keeping my balls?'' ''House: You and I should talk.'' ''Foreman: I'm sorry. She didn't have to do that publicly.'' ''House: Yes, she did. She had to establish her dominance in front of them '— l'imit my power.'' ''Foreman: There's nothing we can do.'' ''House: Well, that's not the never-say-never Dr. Forman, I know. There's lots we can do... I can make you miserable.'' ''Foreman: That's true.'' ''House: Until you quit. Again. So, what don't we just skip the middleman?'' ''Foreman: I'm not quitting.'' ''House: My God. Not everything's about you and your little job and your little world. This is about restoring order in the universe.'' ''Foreman: I'm not quitting.'' ''House: You're gonna be miserable.'' ''Foreman: I already am miserable.'' ''House: Did you get a raise? 'Cause then you're a whore. Or didn't you? 'Cause then you're a stupid whore.'' ''Wilson: Stop worrying about the power play.'' ''House: Is that it? I think you can go lot deeper here. I mean why am I so obsessed by all this?'' ''Wilson: You're threatened by Foreman and feel the need to impress Cuddy. The only thing that's relevant is that Foreman is a good doctor. He can help you; ''''l'ighten the load.'' Wilson: '''Well, you certainly did the right thing by coming to me. ''House: Yes, I needed a smug oncologist.'' ''Wilson: An authoritative oncologist.'' ''House: I hate you. Tell me why.'' ''Wilson: I've been scanning literature. Very interesting study in Sweden. Apparently Giovannini's patients mimic whoever they think's in charge.'' ''House: Any country with that low an age of consent and that high a suicide rate isn't thinking straight.'' ''Wilson: I am in charge of our relationship.'' ''House: It was a surgery. You were the surgeon. In that setting—'' ''Wilson: You would pick up my laundry if I asked you to.'' ''House: Go ahead, ask.'' ''Wilson: Oh, I wouldn't do that to you.'' ''Wilson: Don't. Don't stoop to his level.'' ''Cuddy: Why? Because he's suddenly going to realize he is no longer fourteen? Either I take his garbage forever, or I give him a reason to stop.'' ''Wilson: You don't have to make him miserable. Just make him think that he's won.'' ''Cuddy: I'm not going to fire Foreman.'' ''Wilson: I said "think" he's won. Find some other way to soothe his ego. The thing's big enough. You must be able to find some corner to polish.'' ''Dr. Lisa Cuddy: Where were you two hours ago?'' ''Dr. James Wilson: pause Where were you? to House exiting the restroom Cast *Hugh Laurie as Gregory House *Lisa Edelstein as Lisa Cuddy *Omar Epps as Eric Foreman *Robert Sean Leonard as James Wilson *Jennifer Morrison as Allison Cameron *Jesse Spencer as Robert Chase *Anne Dudek as Amber Volakis *Edi Gathegi as Jeffrey Cole *Peter Jacobson as Chris Taub *Kal Penn as Lawrence Kutner *Olivia Wilde as Thirteen *Andy Comeau as Travis Brennan *Frank Whaley as Mr. X *Luke Baybak as Tony *Brendan Michael Coughlin as Mickey *Bobbin Bergstrom as Nurse Release Dates *United States - October 30, 2007 on Fox *Canada - October 30, 2007 on Global *Australia - October 31, 2007 *Italy - March 11, 2008 on Canale 5 *The Netherlands - March 13, 2008 on SBS6 *United Kingdom - April 17, 2008 on five *Bulgaria - April 29, 2008 on NTV *Denmark - May 3, 2008 on SBS Net *Israel - May 4, 2008 on HOT 3 and YES Stars 3 *Germany - September 23, 2008 on RTL *Hungary - September 24, 2008 on TV2 *Czech Republic - September 29, 2008 on TV Nova *Greece - October 18, 2008 on Star *Belgium - March 15, 2009 *Sweden - March 17, 2009 on TV4 *Poland - April 2, 2009 on TVP2 In Other Languages *'German - '''Spieglein, Speiglein (literal translation) * '''France - '''Le Syndrome du miroir (Eng. "Mirror Syndrome" or, literally "The Syndrome of the Mirror") * '''Quebec - '''Miroir, Miroir (literal translation) * '''Spanish - '''Espejito, Espejito (literally "little mirror, little mirror") Links *Episode page at IMDB *Episode article at Wikipedia *A review of the medicine at Polite Dissent *Episode page at TV.com *Episode page at House MD Guide *Episode transcript at Clinic Duty *Episode review at Blogcritics *Episode page at Movie Mistakes *Music from the episode at Heard on TV *Episode photos at Housecaps *Episode review by ArgumentativeSingaporean *Episode review at IGN *Episode photos at Dr. Greg House.com *Episode guide at USA Network *A review of the doctors' performances at House Performance Reviews *Episode article at The TVIV *The case study that may have inspired the Mirror Syndrome in the episode * An article about Environmental Dependency Syndrome ''This article was the featured article for November, 2014. de:Spieglein, Spieglein… Category:Episodes Category:Season 4 Category:Zebra Factor 8 Category:Featured articles